How to Turn Off BitLocker in Windows 10 and 11

The latest Windows 11 version 24H2 has Device Encryption, or BitLocker, enabled by default after a clean install.

Many users do not know that BitLocker is enabled now, and they do not even know that we have saved some of these recovery keys in their Microsoft account.

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Turn off BitLocker via the control panel

Open the Start menu and search for “BitLocker.”
Now, click on Manage BitLocker.
Click on Turn off BitLocker and confirm again in the prompt box.
The decryption will start, and you can watch it happen.

how to turn off bitlocker windows 10 11 via control panel

Turn Off BitLocker via Command Prompt

You can also disable BitLocker in the Windows command prompt program. Here’s how.

Go to the Start menu.
Search “cmd,”.
Click Run as administrator when the Command Prompt program appears.
Type the below command to see if BitLocker encryption was successful. The C: drive is fully encrypted.

manage-bde -status

Now, run the command below to decrypt the C: drive.
If you want to decrypt another drive, change its drive letter.

manage-bde -off C:

how to turn off bitlocker windows 10 11 via cmd

Turn Off BitLocker via PowerShell

That’s also how you can turn off BitLocker on your PC using Windows PowerShell.

Type PowerShell into your Start menu, right-click, and select Run as administrator.
Open a command prompt.
Type in the below to see the status of Bitlocker encryption. The C: drive is fully encrypted.